Yay me. Here we go with another Mailbag. Back to normal after the previous edition, today's update is jumbo-sized, in an effort to clear out my excessive backlog of e-mails. So what's taken so long? Well, partly I had work interrupting, be it 'regular' work, or the online, RPGFan/other websites kind. That and Final Fantasy X. Having finally finished it after a mere 90.5 hours the other day, I must say... that's one game that easily live up to the hype it generated. Originally when the game was shown, I had little to no interest in it. How little did I know it would turn out to be one of my favorite games of all time. I -seriously- insist that anyone who hasn't played yet needs to.

Of course, with my remarks, I'm sure I've welcomed a ton of positive and negative comments on FFX. Yay.

Moving on, I find myself becoming rather annoyed at certain computer superstores. You know, the type that still don't have a computer that has been paid for ($2100 worth) for over 2 weeks, despite the fact it was shipped (from within the same state) over five days ago. Said store also apparently lacks any phones IN their stores, as calling them redirects you to some national call center, or something. In any case, they might be hearing from me tomorrow or after the weekend.

I do believe I've gone on long enough. Let's get to some letters, shall we?

Hey
I got Final Fantasy X for Christmas its awsome!!! I recomend it to anyone with a PS2. Also I think the Xbox sux cuz they don't have hardly any Rpg's. I know about shenmue 2 and that other game but I don't think they have a very bright future with Rpg's and and I LOVE rpg's, What do you think about the Xbox?

Thanx for your time

Dan

Chronologist:
See? I'm not the only one who recommends FFX. Go buy it. :P As for Xbox, well... they DID just get off the ground, and usually RPGs (or quality ones at least) take a bit of time to come out. I mean, PS2 has Final Fantasy X, Shadow Hearts, Jade Cocoon 2, and later this year, Xenosaga and Skies of Arcadia. But then, it's been out over a year. Look at the intial PS2 RPGs: EverGrace, Eternal Ring, Orphen. Orphen can now be found for $20, or in some cases, as low as $5. Need I go on?

Of course, the PlayStation name had already been established as well, so it did have that going for it, even then. Xbox...well, doesn't. While it's possible they'll have something decent eventually, nobody can say for certain. I guess there's a chance... even though I personally refuse to go near the 'Box, and hope it flounders quicker than the 3D0. I wanted to say Virtual Boy, but I think it's already outlived VB, sad as that is.

The Saturn: The most powerful console ever created.

HI!!!

Remember me? I was the one who said I wanted to be Tifa. Thanks to whoever wrote the nice response to it. It gave me a boost to my ego. Now with that out of the way, I wanted to ask a couple of questions.

I just got a Sega Saturn for Christmas and Albert Odyssey off of ebay (I know I'm a little late getting one but I could only afford one new system at a time back then) and I was wondering if you could tell me about some other good RPG's for this system. Pleeeeease?

My other question pertains to an old RPG for super nintendo that I have called Arcana. Do you remember it? (ironically it had a charater named Teefa) Anyway, it had pretty good music and I was wondering if they had ever released a soundtrack for it.I would pay pretty good money for it. Anyone who is a regular at ebay would know me as the person who paid over 200.00 for Eternal Arcadia OST. (I'm not paying that much again though...It was my favorite soundtrack so I made an exception.) Then they started selling them for 20.00...go figure. Some other ones I'm looking for are the Phantasy Star Collection Soundtrack and Lufia 2 OST. I know they're rare but any information would be appreciated.

I love your website!!
Thanks,
Krystle

Chronologist:
Oh hey, nice to hear from you again. Saturn huh? What's good on Saturn... Well, there's Shining Force III and Panzer Dragoon Saga of course, though I don't think either is easy to come by anymore. Magic Knight Rayearth and Shining Wisdom are more action RPGs, but can provide good entertainment... well, depending on your tastes; not everyone likes these two. :P Dragon Force is also pretty good, if you enjoy strategy RPGs. We of course, have reviews for all of these, and a few more, over on the Saturn Reviews page (which needs minor reformatting... *coughcough*SenseiPhoenix*cough*).

Whoa, they actually made an OST for Lufia 2? :P Honestly, for how old those are, I'd have no idea where to look, besides eBay and maybe Yahoo auctions.

Hey, I love our website too! (And the title of this e-mail is indeed a joke. Laugh.)

NE1 HAV LABIS CAMON FOR TRD PLZZZZ!?

OF AL SHINING FORCE SITES YOURS IS THE BEST! you got sounds pictures and a cool web-layout. I had some cool sites but homestead stopped letting people make sites free so all my 3 sites,so im bored beyond belief! can I pleas help you with your site I don't want anything for pay I just wanna help you I got all ROMs,emulators,and the pictures you might need to improve your site. plus I got REALLY fats internet and a 30 gig room pc and 60 gigahertz, I also got download accelerator pro so I download at the speed of light! I can improve your sit and make it popular and bring the name shining force to everyone!

pleas email me back so I can help you in any way I can. email me at *** not *** cause its to packed I have 3,000,000 un opend email so I wouldn't be able to fine yours plz plz plzplzpzlz let me help im to bored so plzplz respond plzplz

Sincerely,
John gibson

Chronologist:
Why, thanks for the compliments. All of us here at ShiningForceFan.com really appreciate your comments. While we appreciate the offer to let us host illegal ROMs and emulators which are already readily available all over the internet, we must decline the offer. And while your 30 gig, 60 GHz computer sounds powerful, the SFF editors all have 400 gig hard drives and 2 billion gigahertz computers anyway, running Windows 2150 (which only has 950 known bugs... a new record!).

Ah, I love sarcasm.

Star Wars RPG is an RPG tat is Star Wars.

hello sir chrono and miss schala,

i have a question and a few suggestions for the site.i am hardcore rpg'er and a big star wars geek (i'm not afraid to admit it!) have you heard any news about the star wars MMORPG being made by verant for the pc coming to the ps2 since sony owns the company making it? also i would like to see more POLLS at rpgfan,i love polls at any site. if you need topics i would like to send some in! to all at the site keep up you great work!

thanks-paul quinn

Chronologist:
Perhaps I missed something, but last I heard, the Star Wars RPG is more dream than reality. I mean, I know the stories about Square working on it were all speculation and false hope (and stupidity). I guess I need to follow PC news more, since I never heard of this. If anyone cares to fill me in with some factual information, please do.

Also, if you'd like to send in Poll ideas, send an e-mail over to Parn, who handles said section. I'm sure he'd be interested in some ideas... That or he'll spit on your shoes and insult your mother... but at least he'll read them!

Novel idea: Make a continuing series actually continue

Hi, I love your site, your doing a great job! I would think that you guys have finished Final Fantasy X before I did, but just in case I won't spoil the ending for you, or the other fans out there. I would just like to say that I was disapointed in the ending of the game. They leave you with a cliffhanger ending with NO explanations at all! I'm guessing Squaresoft would leave the fans to guess the obvious, but us fans don't know that! Final Fantasy X International is getting extra scenes and we got shorthanded! Is there a chance we will get the game or find out what really happened at the end of the game?

Thanks for reading..
- Chris

Chronologist:
Actually, I wasn't disappointed at all. While the ending is left a bit open, causing one to wonder, I didn't feel shortchanged. It DID offer resolution, which was enough for me. Of course, after reading the translation of the epilogue on FFX International, over at The GIA, now see, THAT is a cliffhanger. The characters and plot elements introduced in it, and the abrupt ending to it is just screaming 'sequel'. There's a novel idea... Final Fantasy X will be the first game in the series to spawn an actual, honest-to-God direct sequel. Which, yeah, is speculation, but it seems like an obvious move.

Oh, and if you ask me, and you did, FFX International will most definitely not see the light of day in the US. Most people won't be willing to fork over another $50 for a near identical game. Heck, considering the epilogue (or prologue, if you listen to Square) is moderately short and unplayable... you're kinda nuts (or very rich) to do so.

Let's just hope Sony doesn't bring back the cast from #2.

is star ocean 3 coming to England and if it is when

Chronologist:
Probably. Don't know when.

Though seriously, it won't be out in Japan for an unknown number of months, and no US release has been announced (though its been hinted at). I think given a bit of time, we'll know the answer.

See, over in Europe, they use 'arse' instead of...

Id like to kick everyones arse here that puts any Final Fantasy game down...unless its Mystic Quest (that game sucked, it was to hold people off untill FF4). Pretty much all games made by Squaresoft are good games. my least fav games in the FF series are FF6, FF8, and FF Mystic Quest (as I mentioned earlier) Chrono Trigger kicks Arse. Working designs has the lunar series and the Grandia (cept for 2 (dreamcast)) series.Oh and Thousand Arms kick arse too. well this is my first letter to ya all and maybye, more will come.

See ya

Chronologist:
Maybe it's because I played it at a very young age, but I don't think MQ was THAT bad. Nothing near the 'real' series, but kind of a fun little diversion. I also regret that I can't agree on your least favorites of 6 & 8... though I'm sure plenty of people side with you on 8. Ah well.

Oh, and Grandia 1 was ported by Sony, not Working Designs. And Thousand Arms was by Atlus...but I'm sure you knew that.

Yes, that game again. Sorta spoilers within.

Dear Chronologist,

I hope you had a pleasant holiday season and enjoyed your trip to Canada. Boredom has gotten the better of me at work and I've decided to write even though I'll probably regret it later.

Some of your other readers seem awfully critical of Final Fantasy X. I'm curious to know what they've been playing (other than MGS2... I don't agree with such an assessment, but I thought you might) that was so superior they felt the need to rebuke Square's latest installment in the series. I thought the game was very well done and certainly better than anything new I've played in awhile.

Every game is going to have its flaws, but I would much rather see those arising through the type of innovation attempted by Square with Final Fantasy X rather than someone just making a game that brings nothing new to the table and has its own problems anyway.

I'm not trying to say that people should not voice their criticism, but don't let the minor flaws you find in a game overshadow the appreciation you should have for a quality product.

Anyway, Schala got a question about whether or not missed Al Bhed primers can be recovered. Though the person has probably already found their answer, the ones that cannot be retrieved after you get the airship can be found scattered about Bikanel Island before the visit to the Al Bhed "Home." The Jecht Shot can be learned after gaining the airship and traveling back to Kilika and getting on the boat. So no, that individual doesn't have to start a new game.

Well, I hope my e-mail doesn't irritate too many people. Take care and keep up the good work!

Regards,
Vi

Chronologist:
I think in regard to FFX, a lot of people, or at least some, feel the urge to discount it as a bad game either because they had a sour experience somewhere in the past (be it FFVIII, VII, IX), and therefore assume X will repeat the same mistakes, when in reality, it's hardly like any previous FF. Then there's those that have played it and don't like it... I can't explain that, so we'll move on now. :P

Every game is going to have its flaws, but I would much rather see those arising through the type of innovation attempted by Square with Final Fantasy X rather than someone just making a game that brings nothing new to the table and has its own problems anyway.

And this is why I have such a love for FFX, and Square themselves. Like it or not, at least they're innovating and not just doing the same tired thing over and over.

Wow, thanks for the info. I might want to go back and get the Jecht Shot myself. Though, I'm a bit confused by your tip on the primers. Er, spoilers coming up:

The ones that can't be retrieved, I assume you mean, are the ones in Home itself. You mention using the airship to go to Bikanel before going to Home, but uh...you know, you can't go back, so... If you could clarify a bit, it would be much appreciated, as I'm missing 2 (or is it 3...) of them myself, 2 being ones I missed in Home. Thanks for writing in, and thanks again if you can help a bit more. Er, and thanks ones last time for actually wishing me a good trip and holiday. They were both good too, so whoo.

Ten Seconds. Oh wait, wrong game.

Hi chronologist.. Have you played tales of destiny for psx? I'm sure you have.. if you have.. Don't you think that Leon's VA sounds A LOT (REALLY SIMILAR!!) to the VA for Tamahome in the japanese anime, Fushigi Yuugi? When Leon gets the killing hit in ToD, he sounds so much like Tamahome, he might as well say "I live to protect you Miaka!"

-Chichiri no daa

Chronologist:
Have I played Tales of Destiny? Yup. But have I seen Fushigi Yugi? Nope. It wouldn't surprise me if it is the same person though, considering games in the US sometimes get movie or television actors to provide voices.

The E to the 3

hi sir chrono and miss shala!

i've been coming to rpgfan since march 2001 and one of my favorite editions of the mailbag was the E3 issue.who from rpgfan is going to E3 this year and are you going to take pictures again this year? btw the picture of schala/britney was funny,make sure to get some more like that!

thanks-paul quinn

Chronologist:
Let's see. If all goes as planned, we have about 14 or 15 staffers going to E3 2002. Unfortunately, some might not make it, but rest assured there will be plenty of us there. We also plan to take gobs of pictures, of the show, the games, and of course, more editors in compromising positions.

Closing Thoughts

Being back in the groove of things is somewhat nice. While it's been an unforgivably long time in coming, I hope you enjoyed the column. That joint effort between Schala and I never did come about. Frankly, we felt it was important to make the most of what little time we had up there, and sitting at the computer wouldn't have cut it. But, well, hopefully things will have settled enough now to keeps updates at least somewhat more frequent.

*goofy theme song plays* Yes, it's that time again. Time to bring back the whole 'theme' thing. While certain other letters columns already had a similar thing going, intentional or not, I'm doing it anyway. Chrono Break. Nothing whatsoever is known of the game, but I'm sure lots of you have thoughts anyway. Oh, and one thing: Go easy on the Chrono Cross bashing. It didn't live up to CT, no... but in its own right, it wasn't too shabby. I figure I'll say this now, than have to reply to half my letters with said response.